Klarinet Archive - Posting 000208.txt from 2001/11

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Masters programs in Music Therapy
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 15:05:39 -0500

From: lubydjackson@-----.net

> I would like more information on the Music Therapy program across the
> nation. I know that it pays big bucks and I'm in need of a
> job right now.

We have a music therapy program at the University of Evansville, but I
wouldn't say that music therapy "pays big bucks." Beginning salaries in
that field tend to be about comparable to beginning teachers' salaries. A
majority of music therapists are employees of state governments, and
therefore are on state-established salary scales. As a result, their
salaries are somewhat limited on the top end of the scale. In other words,
after 20 or so years in the profession, a teaher's salary will probably have
outstripped that of a music therapist.

In any event, you can get such a job "right now." It will take you at least
four years in an undergraduate program in music therapy, plus a six month
internship and a board exam before you will even be qualified for employment
in the field. If you want to be fully professionalized, you will eventually
have to have a master's degree in music therapy or a related field and
several years of on-the-job experience.

Music therapy is a great field for those who are motivated to do it, but it
is a poor choice for "big bucks, right now."

Ed Lacy
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Dr. Edwin Lacy, Eades Distinguished Professor of Music
University of Evansville
Evansville, IN
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